Professional Reviews For This Wine

Wine Spectator | Rating: 92

Fascinating aromas of berry, currant and toasted oak. Crushed dark fruits. Full-bodied and chewy with plenty of berry and vanilla flavors. Slowly builds on the palate, with big velvety tannins and a long finish. This is tight and tannic needing plenty of bottle age. 7,915 cases made.

Drink Dates:
2011+
Author: James Suckling

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International Wine Cellar | Rating: 89

($55) Good red with a hint of development at the rim. Mellow aromas of sandalwood, mocha, coffee, smoked meat and nutty oak. Fat, round and sweet, with a silky texture but good rather than outstanding depth of flavor. Finishes with substantial dusty tannins and good length.

Author: Stephen TanzerIssue: Issue 126

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Wine Advocate | Rating: 88

I have a nagging feeling that this wine could be a lot better than it is, especially given the talent at the chateau. With an unusually high percentage of Merlot in the blend (40%, along with 53.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the rest Petit Verdot), the 2003 exhibits an herbal, peppery, spicy nose, a dark plum/ruby color, good ripeness on the attack, a constrained, narrow mid-palate, and a moderately tannic finish. Additional stuffing, substance, and flesh would be beneficial. Give it 2-3 years of cellaring, and drink it over the following 12-15. Manager John Kolasa told me the alcohol was an extremely high 13%, and that the 2005 is even higher at 13.5%.

Drink Dates:
2008-2023
Author: Robert ParkerIssue: 164

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Collector Reviews For This Wine

Rating: 93
Author:Matty53Trust Rating:
100Tasted On:
09/07/2009Drink Dates: 2012-2030
Still very young, closed, dominated by tannin. Potentially a complex, thoughtful wine if given some time to balance out. I won't open another bottle until 2012 at the earliest.

More Vintages and Sizes of Rauzan-Segla:

Collector Data For This Wine

9 bottles owned by
3 collectors.

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About This Producer

This Bordeaux chateau is a Second Growth property located in the Left Bank commune of Margaux. The estate was purchased by Pierre des Mesures de Rauzan in 1661, but the land had been divided in two by the time of the 1855 Medoc classification. The two vineyards remain today, Rauzan-Segla and Rauzan-Gassies. Phylloxera plagued the vineyards in the 1860s, leaving them ravaged for the next few decades. In 1903, however, negociant Frederic Cruse took over the estate and set about replanting vines, renovating the facilities, and constructing the house that remains today. In the 1980s, after years of mediocre-performing wines, quality returned to Rauzan-Segla thanks to manager and winemaker Jacques Theo. In 1994, under new ownership of the Chanel Group, the name of the chateau changed from Rausan to Rauzan, its original name. The chateau produces long-lived wines that age for decades. In their youth, they show characteristics of cherry, blackberry, and violets, while cassis and spice take over with maturity. Wines from the late '80s into the early '90s performed extremely well, specifically the '89, '90, and '95. Rauzan-Segla's second wine is simply called Segla.

Wine Varietal: Bordeaux Blend

Six varieties are permitted to be used in a red Bordeaux blend: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Petit Verdot, and, less frequently, Carmenere. Each lends a specific characteristic to the finished blends, most of which are dominated by large percentages of either Cabernet Sauvignon, which brings aromatics and age-ability, or Merlot, which adds softness and body. In the Bordeaux region, Cabernet blends are found on the Left Bank and Merlot on the Right.